Romanism, A Menace to the Nation"A
searchlight on the papal system. Startling charges against individuals
in the hierarchy, made and filed by the author and a score of prominent
priests with photographic proofs and illustrations."
By Jeremiah J. Crowley, A Roman Catholic Priest for twenty-one years.Size: 33.79 MB | Added on: 2009-03-30 | Downloads: 8405 | Type: PDF

The Mysterie of Iniquitie – The History of the Papacie"Declaring
by what degrees it is now mounted to this heigh, and what Oppositions
the better sort from time to time have made against it. Where is also
defended the right of Emperours, Kings, and Christian Princes, against
the assertions of the Cardinals, Bellarmine and Baronius."Size: 127.09 MB | Added on: 2009-04-23 | Downloads: 3574 | Type: PDF

The United States is in more danger today than she has ever been. A
secret terrorist organization has been working within to destroy
America, its Constitution, and everything for which she stands. This
book gives all the details, and shows how far this terrorist
organization has been able to progress in the destruction of America.

Wednesday, 5 September 2012

"The territory on the right bank of the Tiber
between Monte Mario and Gianicolo (Janiculum) was known to antiquity as
the Ager Vaticanus, and, owing to its marshy character, the low-lying
portion of this district enjoyed an ill repute. The origin of the name
Vaticanus is uncertain; some claim that the name comes from a vanished
Etruscan town called Vaticum." [Ager in Latin means land]

Sources: Compendious
Description of the Museums of Ancient Sculpture, Greek and Roman, in
the Vatican Palace, by Cav. H. J. Massi,
First Curator of the Vatican Museums and Galleries, Paleographer and
Professor of the Italian and French Languages, Rome, Third Edition,
1889,
Title page,
page 7.

Compendious Description
of the Museums of Ancient Sculpture, Greek and Roman, in the Vatican
Palace, by
Cav. H. J. Massi, First Curator of the Vatican Museums and Galleries,
Paleographer and Professor of Languages, Rome, Sixth Edition,
1901,
Title page,
page 5.

Aulus
Gellius, writing in the 2nd century, also said the word Vatican was
derived from the word vaticinia, or prophecies, in his Attic
Nights, book 16, chapter 17.

Source: The Attic Nights of Aulus Gellius,
translated into English by the Rev. William Beloe, Volume III, London,
1795, Title
page, page
247, page
248.

Research the word Vatican in many Latin - English /
English - Latin dictionaries, or encyclopedias, and you will likely
find that Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica of the Roman Catholic
Church were built upon what was called in Latin vaticanus mons
or vaticanus collis. The words mons and collis
mean hill or mountain. You will also find in the dictionaries that the
words vatic / vates / vatis all relate to prophecy as shown here:

Source: The New College Latin and English
Dictionary, revised and enlarged, by John C. Traupman, Ph.D.,
published and copyrighted by Bantam Books, 1995, ISBN 0-553-57301-2,
page 437.

Note that there are five words listed above
containing vatic, and all relate to prophecy. The word vatic
and its association to prophecy can even be found in a standard English
dictionary:

And here is what you would find in a Latin - English
dictionary for the suffix -anus:

Source: The New College Latin and English
Dictionary, revised and enlarged, by John C. Traupman, Ph.D.,
published and copyrighted by Bantam Books, 1995, ISBN
0-553-57301-2, page 60.

Vaticanus then is a combination of Vatic + anus, just
as Romanus is a combination of Rome + anus. Therefore, vaticanus collis
or vaticanus mons mean "the prophetic hill or mountain", which
can be rephrased as the hill or mountain of prophecy.
The word Vatican is just a shortened form of the word Vaticanus, just
like Claudian is a shortened form of Claudianus, as shown above. This
association of the Vatican with prophecy is even confirmed by this
recent Catholic book:

Where does the word "Vatican" come from and what does it mean?
The word derives from the Latin vates, which means
"tellers of the future." This name was the name given to a hillside on
the west bank of the Tiber River in Rome because daily lineups of
fortunetellers used to hawk their "wares" there to passersby on the
street. In the fourteenth century, when the papacy was returned to Rome
from Avignon (France), the present-day Vatican became the residence of
the popes, and the word came to refer to the enclave in the middle of
Rome that had become the seat of the Roman Catholic Church.

Now, note the following coins minted in Vatican City from 1955 to
1965 under three Popes. The inscription on the reverse side of the coin
reads in Italian "CITTÁ DEL VATICANO", which as we can now see, means City
of Prophecy.

CITTÁ DEL
VATICANO - CITY OF PROPHECY

Pope Pius the 12th - 1958

Pope John the 23rd - 1959

Pope Paul the 6th - 1963

To get a closer look at a coin, click on it.

Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

There is also a woman on the reverse side, and at her feet is her
title, FIDES, which means faith. This woman is symbolic of the
Roman Catholic faith, or Roman Catholic Church.

Here is a statue of a woman portraying the same
symbolism of the Catholic Church or Catholic faith that decorates the
monument to Pope Clement IX (1667-69), which was placed to the right
side of the nave entrance of the basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome
in 1671.
Interestingly, the word anus in Latin also means "old
woman", so Vaticanus is a combination two words that also result in The
Old Woman of Prophecy, this woman being symbolic of the
Catholic Church.

From a photo by Gabinetto Fotographico Nazionale

It is important to note that in the symbolic
woman's hand, is a cup, as illustrated above on the coins, and just
barely visible with the statue above and at right. The depiction of the
Catholic faith (FIDES) as a woman holding a cup appears to be quite
common, and yet is apparently unique to the Catholic
Church.
There is a remarkable and direct correlation to these
depictions of the Catholic faith as a woman, and the woman described in
Revelation 17, as will be demonstrated.

Fides in stucco, Santa Maria Vallicella, Rome.

A Woman In Prophecy Symbolizes
A Church

In scripture a woman is used symbolically to depict the church,
and the faithful church of saints is described as the bride of Christ:

2 Cor 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I
have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ.
Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for
the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine
linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of
saints.

And a godly woman's appearance is clearly described in scripture:

1 Tim 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in
modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided
hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;
1 Tim 2:10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good
works.
1 Pet 3:3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of
plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
1 Pet 3:4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is
not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is
in the sight of God of great price.
1 Pet 3:5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also,
who trusted in God, adorned themselves,
Rev 12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman
clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a
crown of twelve stars:
Rev 12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and
pained to be delivered.

The symbol of the sun:

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
righteousness [Christ] arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go
forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
Psa 119:172 My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy
commandments are righteousness.

The symbol of the moon:

Psa 89:37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a
faithful witness [testimony] in heaven.
John 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in
them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of
me.

The symbol of the stars:

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars
which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.
The seven stars are the angels [messengers]
of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are
the seven churches.
Dan 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of
the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars
for ever and ever.

So the woman of Revelation 12, the true church, is clothed with
the righteousness of Christ, keeping the commandments of God, standing
as a faithful witness upon the word of God, the scriptures, crowned
with the gospel message of the 12 apostles, the new covenant
representation of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of
God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The
Apostate Church

However, the woman described in Revelation 17 represents an
apostate church, the direct opposite of the true and faithful church
represented by the woman described in Revelation 12. While the Roman
Catholic Church readily and willingly identifies itself as the woman of
Revelation 12, the bride of Christ, it is precisely and graphically
described in Revelation 17, as we shall see.

Rev 17:1 ... Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of
the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,
and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of
her fornication.

Church and State

Rev 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the
wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full
of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

The woman of Revelation 17 rides a symbolic beast. A beast in
scripture is symbolic of an empire or state. Examples of this are
explained in Daniel 7, where a lion represented Babylon, a bear represented Medo-Persia, and a leopard represented Greece. Therefore, the
woman of Revelation 17 riding a beast is symbolic of the combining of
the ecclesiastical power of church (the woman) and political power of
the state (the beast), i.e., a church in control of state power.

Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city,
which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The Vatican City is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church, and
since the Lateran Concordat of 1929 it is also an independent country,
the epitome of Church and State combined. The full formal diplomatic
title in Italian is STATO DELLA CITTÁ DEL VATICANO, as shown on the
coin below from the pontificate of Pope Pius the 12th, which means:

The City-State of Prophecy

Vatican 2 Lira coin minted in 1940

A woman (church) dressed in
scarlet and purple.

Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and
scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and
filthiness of her fornication:

Here you see the Pope wearing scarlet and an Archbishop
wearing reddish-purple.

Photo by Arturo Mari.

Pope John Paul II celebrated mass in the Basilica of the
Resurrection in Jerusalem on Sunday, March 26th 2000, dressed in a
purple Lenten robe and a miter trimmed with scarlet red. For more
photos, see this page at the Franciscan
Cyberspot.

On the12th of March 2000, during the Papal Apology Mass, the pope
and other members of the Roman Catholic priesthood wore various shades
of violet/purple because it also occurred during the Catholic festival
of Lent, when the penitential color of purple is traditionally worn.

Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, also participated in
the unprecedented event at the Vatican, during which Pope John Paul II
asked for forgiveness for the various persecution sins committed by
Roman Catholics over the last two millennium. Cardinal Cassidy and
other prominent Cardinals wore both prophesied colors of
scarlet and purple!

Below are photos from the October 31st, 1999 signing of the Joint
Declaration on Justification by Faith between the Roman Catholic and
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Churches in Augsburg Germany. The Roman
Catholics were boldly wearing the prophesied colors of scarlet and
purple.

Dressed in scarlet red is Cardinal
Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity. On the right wearing purple is Bishop Walter Kasper,
secretary, Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Seated on
the left in black is Rev. Christian Krause, the Lutheran World
Federation president.

In this photo of the audience at the ceremony in
Augsburg, the Catholic cardinals are wearing scarlet red and the
Catholic bishops are wearing purple. Cardinal Cassidy is in the center
with Rev. Krause seated to his left (right in the photo).

Priests of the Catholic Church regularly wear red vestments
on Good Friday, Palm Sunday, Pentecost, Birthday Feasts of the Apostles
and Evangelists, and the Feasts of Martyrs. Purple vestments are worn
on Advent, Lent, and at Funerals, although other colors are optional on
some of those days. Other approved colors are white, green, black and
rose and gold. A distinctive shade of bright orange-red designated
officially by the Church as "scarlet" is frequently worn by Cardinals
of the Catholic Church. Here you see Archbishops and Bishops in purples
and Cardinals in scarlet.

Photo by Arturo Mari.

A traditional "Red Mass" is also held for Supreme Court Justices
in the United States, on the Sunday prior to the opening of the Supreme
Court session. The Red Mass is an English tradition that was instituted
about 1310 during the reign of King Edward II.

Red Mass - Ordinarily this relates to the color of the
vestment used on the occasion of the Votive Mass in honor of the Holy
Spirit, celebrated at the opening of councils, deliberative groups,
schools, and such similar occasions when guidance is invoked.
Frequently, at the beginning of a judicial year, such as a Mass is
attended by judges and court officials for any civil court or
legislative assembly with the intention that they might exercise equity
and prudence while fulfilling their official capacities.

The garments of the high priest of Israel, according
to the Bible, contained specific colors:

Exo 28:3 And thou shalt speak unto all that are
wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they
may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto
me in the priest's office.
Exo 28:4 And these are the garments which they shall make; a
breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a broidered coat, a mitre,
and a girdle: and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother,
and his sons, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office.
Exo 28:5 And they shall take gold, and blue, and purple, and
scarlet, and fine linen.
Exo 28:6 And they shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of
purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cunning work.
Exo 28:7 It shall have the two shoulder pieces thereof joined at the
two edges thereof; and so it shall be joined together.
Exo 28:8 And the curious girdle of the ephod, which is upon it, shall
be of the same, according to the work thereof; even of gold, of blue,
and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.

Exo 28:31 And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod
all of blue.

Exo 39:1 And of the blue, and purple, and
scarlet, they made cloths of service, to do service in the holy place,
and made the holy garments for Aaron; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Exo 39:2 And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple, and
scarlet, and fine twined linen.

In comparison, the garments of the high priest
include the color blue, which is notably absent in the description of
the woman of Revelation 17.:

Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in
purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious
stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations
and filthiness of her fornication:

The Bible even tells us the spiritual meaning of the
color blue:

Num 15:38 Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them
that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout
their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a
ribband of blue:
Num 15:39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look
upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them;
and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after
which ye use to go a whoring:
Num 15:40 That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy
unto your God.
Deu 22:12 Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four
quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.

In Numbers 15, the context for the blue tassels or ribbands
is intentional sinning (Num 15:30-31) and breaking the sabbath
commandment (Num 15:32-36). Note that there is no mention of repentance
by the man who was gathering sticks, he was breaking the sabbath
intentionally in open defiance of the law. For that he was put to death.

This practice of blue in tassels survives today in
the Jewish prayer shawl, known as a tallit. The tassel with the ribband
of blue on the four corners of the tallit is called a tzitzit, and one
is shown above.

All blue cloth was also specified to be used to cover
the furniture and utensils of the sanctuary of Moses when it was
disassembled for transport to a new location (Num 4:5-12).

Why blue? It is understood that the tablets of
the Ten Commandments were cut from the clear blue sapphire seen on
mount Sinai (Exo 24:10), which makes up the very throne of God (Eze
1:26, 10:1). So, the Ark of the Covenant in the most holy apartment of
the sanctuary, the throne of God's presence (the Shekinah glory),
contained the blue sapphire tablets of the Ten Commandments.

Healing in his Wings

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the
Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go
forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

Malachi 4:2 is a messianic prophecy, it is speaking
of Jesus Christ. So what does healing in his wings mean? The word
translated "wings" is H3671:

So Malachi was really saying that the Messiah would
have healing in the edge or fringe of His garment. This
was what was understood by the people of Israel. How do we know that?

Mat 14:35 And when the men of that place had
knowledge of him [Jesus], they sent out into all that country round
about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;
Mat 14:36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his
garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

Mat 9:20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased
with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the
hem of his garment:
Mat 9:21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I
shall be whole.
Mat 9:22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said,
Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the
woman was made whole from that hour.

See also Mark 5:25-34 and Luke 8:43-48.

The fringe or tassel of Christ's garment undoubtedly
included the sapphire blue ribband as directed in Numbers 15:38-39 as
mentioned above, that symbolized the commandments of God. That is why
the woman sought so earnestly to touch that hem or fringe. She knew
Malachi's prophecy, and in faith she made her way through the crowd to
claim that healing.

So regarding the whoring harlot church, though she
claims to be God's representative on earth, the missing color blue in
her description indicates that she defiantly disregards and
transgresses the law of God. One of the characteristics of the
antichrist power is lawlessness:

[NIV] 2 Th 2:3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that
day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
[NIV] 2 Th 2:7 For the secret power of lawlessness is
already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do
so till he is taken out of the way.

And, note what the antichrist little horn power tries to change:

Dan 7:25 And he [little horn] shall speak great words against
the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think
to change times and laws [of the most High]: and they shall be
given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

The only one of the ten commandments of God that deals with time
is the sabbath commandment (Exo. 20:8-11), which the Catholic Church
claims to have changed, from Saturday the seventh day, to Sunday, the
first day of the week:

2175 Sunday is expressly distinguished
from the sabbath which it follows chronologically every week; for
Christians its ceremonial observance replaces that of the sabbath.
Source: Catechism
of the Catholic Church,published by Liguori
Publications, English translation copyright 1994 by the United States
Catholic Conference, Inc.--Libreria Editrice Vaticana, bearing the
Imprimi Potest of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, page 524.

For a striking contrast, note how the true church, symbolized by
the woman of Revelation 12, is described:

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments
of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

THE ULTIMATE FATE OF THE HARLOT
DAUGHTER

Lev 21:9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself
by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with
fire.
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast,
these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and
shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.

Blasphemy

The scriptures give us several examples of blasphemy:

Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto
the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven
thee.
Mark 2:6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and
reasoning in their hearts,
Mark 2:7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins
but God only?

John 10:32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for
which of those works do ye stone me?
John 10:33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee
not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest
thyself God.

Rev 2:9 I know thy
works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the
blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the
synagogue of Satan.

So, a man falsely claiming the power to forgive the
sins of men, a man falsely claiming to be God on earth, and men falsely
claiming to be the true church of God are all clearly defined as
blasphemy. Note the following:

Priests and bishops are, as it were, the interpreters
and heralds of God, commissioned in his name to teach mankind the" law
of God, and the precepts of a Christian life—they are the
representatives of God upon earth. Impossible, therefore, to conceive a
more exalted dignity, or functions more sacred. Justly, therefore, are
they called not only angels,' but gods.3 holding, as they
do, the place and power and authority of God on earth. But the
priesthood, at all times an elevated office, transcends in the New Law
all others in dignity. The power of consecrating and offering the body
and blood of our Lord and of remitting sin, with which the priesthood
of the New Law is invested, is such as cannot be comprehended by the
human mind, still less is it equalled by, or assimilated to, any thing
on earth.

The third great power of the priestly office is the climax of
all. It is the power of consecrating. "No act is greater," says saint
Thomas, "than the consecration of the body of Christ." In this
essential phase of the sacred ministry, the power of the priest is not
surpassed by that of the bishop, the archbishop, the cardinal or the
pope. Indeed it is equal to that of Jesus Christ. For in this role the
priest speaks with the voice and the authority of God Himself.
When the priest pronounces the tremendous words of
consecration, he reaches up into the heaven, brings Christ down from
His throne, and places Him upon our altar to be offered up again as the
victim for the sins of man. It is a power greater than that of monarchs
and emperors. It is greater than that of saints and angels, greater
than that of Seraphim and Cherubim. Indeed, it is greater than the
power of the Virgin Mary. While the blessed virgin was the human agency
by which Christ became incarnate a single time, the priest brings
Christ down from heaven, and renders Him present on our altar as the
eternal victim for the sins of man-not once, but, a thousand times! The
priest speaks and lo! Christ the eternal and omnipotent God, bows His
head in humble obedience to the priest's command.
[pg.271] Of what sublime dignity is the office of the
Christian priest who is thus privileged to act as the ambassador and
the vicegerent of Christ on earth. He continues the essential ministry
of Christ - he teaches the faithful with the authority of Christ, he
offers up again the same sacrifice of adoration and atonement which
Christ offered on Calvary. No wonder that the name which spiritual
writers are especially fond of applying to the priest is that of "alter
Christus." For the priest is and should be another Christ.

Thus the priest may, in a certain manner, be called the
creator of his Creator, ...
"The power of the priest," says St. Bernadine of Sienna, "is
the power of the divine person; for the transubstantiation of the bread
requires as much power as the creation of the world."
As the Word of God created heaven and earth, so, says St.
Jerome, the words of the priest create Jesus Christ.

Source: The Dignity and Duties of the Priest or Selva,
by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, translated from the Italian, edited by
Eugene Grimm, copyright 1927 by Very Rev. James Barron, C.SS.R, pgs.
32, 33.

"In this moment, the priest quite literally becomes
Christ Himself: his own personality is blotted out; it is absorbed in
that of the everlasting priest who is, at one time, the offered victim
and the supreme officiant."

Rev 17:4 And the woman
was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with
gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her
hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

At right is a jewel encrusted gold and silver triple-tiara of
Pope Pius IX, one of as many a dozen such tri-regno crowns in the
Vatican treasury. For more photos of papal tiaras, see Papal
Claims to Authority.

The Cup of Doctrinal
Fornication
The Wine of Babylon is the Precept of Men

Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and
scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

Five hundred diamonds encrust this golden
chalice, a gift of Sultan Abdul Medji for Pope Pius IX’s election, and
first used by Pius IX on December 8th, 1854, at the Mass proclaiming
the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Pope John Paul II, dressed in purple, holds a golden cup
during the Papal Apology Mass on March 12th, 2000. Some Cardinals in
attendance wore both prophetic colors of purple and scarlet
(see above).

Jer 51:6 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man
his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the
LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense.
Jer 51:7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that
made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine;
therefore the nations are mad.
Isa 28:7 But they also have erred through wine, and through
strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet
have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they
are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they
stumble in judgment.
Isa 28:8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there
is no place clean.
Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to
understand doctrine?
Isa 29:9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they
are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.
Isa 29:10 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep
sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the
seers hath he covered.
Isa 29:11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a
book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying,
Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
Isa 29:12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying,
Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
Isa 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near
me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed
their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the
precept of men:
Isa 29:14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work
among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom
of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent
men shall be hid.
Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me
with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is
far from me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of
devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean
and hateful bird.
Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication
with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the
abundance of her delicacies.
Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of
her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye
receive not of her plagues.
Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered
her iniquities.
Rev 18:6 Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her
double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to
her double.

The cup illustrated on the three Vatican coins at the top of this
article, and in the hand of the other symbolic depictions of FIDES, is
the golden cup of wine of the Mass. Above it is the host or wafer of
the Eucharist, which resembles a sunburst.

Below are similar symbols of the Eucharist as seen
on the 100 Lire coins:

Above is a papal medal minted by Pius XI in 1929 to
commemorate both the Lateran Treaty, which restored Papal sovereignty
and made Vatican City an independent state, and the 50th jubilee of his
priesthood. The sunburst wafer of the Eucharist appears in the sky
above the Lateran and St. Peter's basilicas, over the cup of the
Mass.

Here is a photo of the same symbology of the cup and wafer host of
the Catholic mass, used in the window of the church Dominus
Fleviton the Mount of Olives, overlooking the temple mount of
Jerusalem, online at Christus Rex. Note the wavy sunburst pattern
around the cup.

At left is FIDES, the Catholic faith, holding the
golden cup of the Mass, portrayed by Lorenzo Sabbatini and his
assistants from 1573 -1576 on the vault of the First Sala dei Foconi,
the Vatican.

Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have
committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk
with the wine of her fornication. ...
Rev 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and
decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in
her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
The golden cup of wine in the hand of the woman of Revelation 17 is full
of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication, which represent
apostate doctrine, stupefying corrupted dogma, the commandments (precepts)
of men, imposed through coercion and persecution by civil powers
(fornication), with which she has made all the nations to become drunken.

From a photo by G. Vasari.

The Catholic faith is again represented in these
paintings as a woman holding a golden cup of wine with the round wafer
of the Eucharist.

Ceiling panel
painting of FIDES by Francesco Podesti,
Immaculate Conception room of the Borgia Tower, the Vatican.
From a photo by Spectrum Colour Library.

Chief among the apostate Catholic doctrines is
that of transubstantiation, where the priest claims to turn bread and
wine into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ, who is allegedly
re-presented at every mass as a continuing sacrifice, worshipped as
though it were God Himself, and then consumed by the congregation.
Eating the flesh of another human being is defined as cannibalism. In
truth, the Lord's supper is merely a symbolic memorial, and not
a sacrifice.
At left is a painting of FIDES, a detail from The
Theological Virtues, painted from 1596 -1600 by Cherubino Alberti
and Baldassare Croce, in the Sala Clementina, the Vatican.

From a photo by G.
Vasari.

This oil on canvas of The
Triumph of Faithwhich is in the Vatican collection, is by
Gaetano Gandolfi and was painted about 1774. It is the preparatory work
for the ceiling of a chapel in Bologna, and was given to Pope Pius X by
the Sacra Congregazione di Propaganda Fide, otherwise known as the
office of the Inquisition.

From a photo by Pianeta
Immagine.

At left is FIDES as portrayed over the pulpit of
the Benedictine Melk Monastery
on the Danube in Austria, built in the early 18th century. In FIDES'
left hand is the golden cup (in front of the cross), and behind her
right shoulder is the pagan sunburst image.

From a photo by Artephot,
Paris (Nimatallah).

At right is a detail of FIDES from The Battle
of Lepanto by Giorgio Vasari and assistants from 1572-73, in the
Sala Regia, the Vatican.

From a photo by M. Sarre.

This depiction of Fides by Donatello and
Michelozzo dates to about 1435, and is carved on the base of the
funeral monument of AntiPope John XXIII (1410-1415), which is in the
Pietra serena Baptistry in Florence.

On the right is a tempera and oil on wood by
Raphael, a part of the predella of the Baglioni Altarpiece, which dates
to about 1507.

From a photo by M. Sarre.

Above is a papal medal of Pope Clemens VIII marking
the 13th year of his reign in 1602, and the reverse side is inscribed
Unus Deus - Una Fides (One God - One Faith)

This is the title page of a Roman Catholic
Missal, published in 1779, which depicts a cup-holding FIDES. The
Missal "contains the prayers said by the priest at the altar as well as
all that is officially read or sung in connection with the offering of
the holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the ecclesiastical year",
according to the Catholic
Encyclopedia.
Can it be any plainer that the Catholic Church has indeed
adopted the symbology of a woman holding a golden cup, precisely as
described, and in fulfillment of the prophecy of Revelation 17?Indeed, and it would seem that no other Christian
denomination but the Catholic Church has depicted itself in this manner.

This medal of Pope Innocent XI was
struck in 1680, the 4th year of his reign. On the reverse side is FIDES
representing the Catholic Church. Again she is holding the golden cup
of the Mass and a cross. The inscription is from the Latin Vulgate
Bible, Ecclesiasticus 40:12, and means fidelity shall stand for ever.

INNOCENT XI
PONT - M - A - IIII

IN SAECVLVM
STABIT

Papal Rome's symbolism of FIDES
apparently originated with ancient Pagan Rome. On the left is a
strikingly similar Roman Denarius, with FIDES holding military
standards, a common theme on coins from ancient Rome, depicting a
military faithful to the reigning emperor.

IMP MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG

FIDES
MILITVM

Additional images online

The tomb of Pope Innocent
VIIIalso has an image of FIDES with cup raised, in the left
top corner of the tomb.
Here is another sculpture of FIDES, titled The Triumph of Faith
over Idolatry by Théodon Jean Baptiste, in Rome's Chiesa del
Gesù, the Jesuit Church of Rome. This sculpture is on the left side of
the tomb of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits.
In New Orleans, the Cathedral
of St. Louishas a statue of Fides holding the golden cup
above the altar.
Note the statue of The Mother of the
Eucharistin which Mary holds the golden cup.
In Venice, St. Mark's Basilicahas a statue of Fides holding the golden cup on its west facade.
In Rome, in the church of Santa Maria Maddalena, Fides
holding the golden cup is to the left of the organ pipes.
Cup holding statue of Ste
Madeleine in the church of Rennes-le-Chateau, France.

The earliest image of a cup-holding FIDESthat I
have found is on the gildedbronze doorson the south
side of the Baptistery in Florence Italy, which date from the early
14th century.

10. ... "It must always be clear, when the expression sister
churches is used in this proper sense that the one, holy, catholic
and apostolic universal church is not sister but mother of all
the particular churches."

In the recent document Memory and Reconciliation, where
the Roman Catholic Church discusses its asking forgiveness for its past
sins of persecution, section 3.4 specifically addresses "The Motherhood
of the Church":

The conviction that the Church can make herself responsible for
the sin of her children by virtue of the solidarity that exists among
them through time and space because of their incorporation into Christ
and the work of the Holy Spirit, is expressed in a particularly
effective way in the idea of “Mother Church” (“Mater Ecclesia”), ...

Furthermore, to check unbridled spirits, it [The Council of
Trent] decrees that no one relying on his own judgment shall, in
matters of faith and morals pertaining to the edification of Christian
doctrine, distorting the Holy Scriptures in accordance with his own
conceptions, presume to interpret them contrary to that sense which holy
mother Church, to whom it belongs to judge of their true sense
and interpretation, has held and holds, or even contrary to the
unanimous teaching of the Fathers, even though such interpretations
should never at any time be published. Those who act contrary to this
shall be made known by the ordinaries and punished in accordance with
the penalties prescribed by law.

Source: The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent,
English Translation, by Rev. H. J. Schroeder, O.P., Copyright 1941 by
B. Herder Book Co., Copyright 1978 by TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.,
Library of Congress Catalogue Number: 78-66132, ISBN 0-89555-074-1,
pages 18-19.

The holy fathers, as well in general councils as in their
writings and doings, have called the Holy Roman Church the
universal mother, accepting and serving with great veneration
this institution founded by the divine will, this pledge of a
dispensation to the church, this privilege entrusted in the beginning
and confirmed to St. Peter the chief of the apostles.

I acknowledge the holy Catholic and apostolic Roman Church as
the mother and teacher of all churches; and to the
Roman Pontiff, the successor of the blessed Peter, chief of the
Apostles and vicar of Jesus Christ, I promise and swear true obedience.

Source: The Profession of Faith of the Council of Trent, from
the Bull of Pius IV, "Iniunctum nobis," Nov. 13, 1565, Denzinger, Enchiridion
Symbolorum, Thirtieth Edition, translated by Roy J. Deferrari in The
Sources of Catholic Dogma, Copyright 1957 by B. Herder Book Co.,
pg. 303.

Mystery

This self-proclaimed "mother" church is also Mystery Babylon, the
apostate church of Mysteries and the purveyor of Babylonian doctrinal
confusion. Note this quote of John Paul II from the Vatican Information
Service press release dated 17 September, 1997, (emphasis is mine):

Thanks to greater attention to the mystery of the Church
and Mary's relationship with her, the Virgin has begun to be invoked
more frequently as 'Mother of the Church.'

Mystery is also the term used by the Roman Catholic Church to
refer to the Mass, specifically the transubstantiation of the bread and
wine into the body and blood of Christ. It is a key part of Catholic
dogma. These are the words of the priest in Latin or English (emphasis
is mine):

HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI:
MYSTERIUM FIDEI, QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN
REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM.
FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, OF THE NEW AND
ETERNAL TESTAMENT, THE MYSTERY OF FAITH, WHICH FOR YOU AND FOR
MANY SHALL BE SHED UNTO THE REMISSION OF SINS.

The Catholic is also well familiar with many "mysteries" through
the recitation of their Hail Marys and the rosary. There are 15 decades
of prayer (150 recitations) and during each decade of ten recitations,
the Catholic contemplates on one of the "mysteries" of the church,
which are as follows:
The Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosaryare divided into three groups: the Joyful, the Sorrowful and the
Glorious.

The 5 Joyful Mysteries

The Mystery of the Annunciation

The Mystery of the Visitation

The Mystery of the Birth of the Lord

The Mystery of the Presentation in the Temple

The Mystery of Finding Jesus in the Temple

The 5 Sorrowful Mysteries

The Mystery of the Agony in the Garden

The Mystery of the Scourging at the Pillar

The Mystery of the Crowning with Thorns

The Mystery of Jesus carrying his cross

The Mystery of the Crucifixion

The 5 Glorious Mysteries

The Mystery of the Resurrection

The Mystery of the Ascension of Our Lord

The Mystery of the Descent of the Holy Spirit

The Mystery of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin

The Mystery of the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin
as Queen of Heaven

The
Persecuting Church Drunken on Blood

The woman of Revelation 17 is drunk with the blood of Christian
martyrs:

Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her,
I wondered with great admiration.

AFRAID WE WILL GET THEM.

No one is more honest
with Protestants than
we are, for no one knows them better. There is a great deal of
controversy now going on as to the attitude of Protestants towards
Catholics holding political office. We have published statements from
Baptist and Lutheran bodies, and individual declarations from prominent
men in all the Protestant sects. They are all agreed on the question.
They would not vote for a Catholic for political office, least of all
for the presidency of the United States; and they all give the same or
similar reasons. Some say it is because Catholics owe their allegiance
to the Pope, and therefore they cannot vote for them. Others declare
that all Catholics believe in the union of Church and State; and they
under no circumstances would vote to give them political power. Others
give other reasons; but one and all declare that they would not vote
for Catholics, and mostly all for the two reasons given above. But is there not a reason behind these two
reasons
which these Protestants are not willing to admit even to
themselves? Are not these two reasons too theoretical and
entirely too academic for the majority of Protestants? They know very
little of the meaning and import of allegiance, civil or ecclesiastic;
and they do not know what Catholics understand by the term. They have a
very vague and indistinct notion of the union of Church and State, and
are not aware that such union exists more or less in every state in
Christendom. What they really oppose and what they wish to emphasize by
their vote is that they do want want to be dragooned into the Catholic
Church. They fear that if the Catholic Church should get the upper hand
in this country she might induce the state to suppress all heretical
worship and compel all to embrace the Catholic faith. And this fear is
not irrational, if unfounded. The Church has persecuted. Only a
tyro in church history will deny that. The Apologists in the days of
Roman imperial domination inveighed against persecution and with
Tertullian deplored that "it was no part of religion to persecute
religion." But after the days of Constantine and under the reign of
that first Christian emperor the attitude of Christians underwent a
change, and persecution of pagans took place in many places in the
empire. A hundred and fifty years after Constantine the Donatists were
persecuted and sometimes put to death. Against this extreme measure St.
Augustine raised his voice; but he was willing that they should
despoiled of their churches and of their goods. Protestants were
persecuted in France and and Spain with the full approval of the Church
authorities. We have always defended the superventions of the Huguenots
and the Spanish Inquisition. Wherever and whenever there is
honest Catholicity there will be a clear distinction drawn
between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of heresy. When
she thinks it good to use physical force the Church will use it. She is
no better nor holier than God; and God has used physical force to bring
people to embrace the truth. If the Church ever again finds herself in
the same circumstances as surrounded her in the days of the Donatists
and Huguenots and the Moriscoes it is very probable that she will
defend herself with the same weapons she used before. But will those
conditions ever return? We hope not for the sake of both persecutor and
persecuted. The Protestants of the world fear that the history of
persecution will repeat itself. If so it will be brought about by
themselves. They fear that they will be forced to embrace the Catholic
faith. They never will be as long as they allow Catholics to profess
their religion in peace. But if they want war they will be promptly
accommodated. But will the Catholic Church give bond that
she will
not persecute at all? Will she guarantee absolute freedom and equality
of all churches and all faiths? The Catholic Church gives no bonds for
her good behavior. She has made mistakes in her policy which she
promptly corrected as soon as discovered. She has countenanced violence
when more human measures would have been of more avail. Her children
and her clergy have often been carried away by popular passion. But she
gives no bonds that such things shall not occur again. Why should the Church be required to
furnish
security of good behavior? Civil governments have been tyrannical. But
we must have civil government. The state has oppressed, and kings have
abused their power. But we must have the state to maintain order and
protect life and property. So it is with the Church; only more so. We
must have the Church. She is the means of grace to a lost world. She is
salvation to all mankind. Without the state we have anarchy; without
the Church we have spiritual chaos. ―
Western
Watchman,
A Catholic Journal Devoted To The Catholic Interests In The West, Vol.
XXXXIII ―
No. 35, St. Louis, Mo. Dec. 24, 1908, Forty Second Year, pg. 8.

A harlot drunken on blood:

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
...
From the prayer Anima Christi
(Soul of Christ).

The prayer Anima Christi can be found on scores of
Catholic web sites, and actually asks for drunkenness from the
blood of the golden cup.
Web site: Anima Christi.
The Roman Catholic Church during the "dark ages" is responsible for the
persecution deaths of uncounted thousands of Christians who dared to
read the Bible, translate the Bible or preach from the Bible or denied
the apostate Catholic doctrines or dogma, such as transubstantiation.
That the Roman Catholic church felt compelled to ask for
forgiveness for her persecution sins of the past on March 12th, 2000,
only serves to further confirm she is the apostate persecuting mother
church responsible for the blood of the saints spoken of in Revelation! The Document: MEMORY AND RECONCILIATION.

The Beast That Was, and Is
Not, and Yet Is.

Rev 17:7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou
marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast
that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend
out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell
on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of
life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that
was, and is not, and yet is.

The angel explains to John that there are three phases to the
beast:

The Beast that Was

Is Not

And Yet Is

Papal sovereignty and persecution
1260 years (538-1798)

Papal sovereignty lost
(1798-1929)

Papal sovereignty restored
(1929 - ?)

For 1260 years the papacy ruled over Europe, from 538 to 1798.
During these dark ages the papacy exercised both political and
ecclesiastical power, the woman rode the beast, the beast that
was.

The papacy lost its political power February
15th, 1798, with the capture of Pius VI by the armies of Napoleon,
and it lost the last of the Papal States, on
September 20th, 1870 when Italian troops seized the city of Rome,
leaving the Pope a virtual prisoner in the Vatican. The Catholic Church
had lost her political power and sovereignty, consequently the beast was
not.

Now, John in chapter 17, sees the harlot in her final phase after
she has regained her lost political power (sit on the beast),
and the world wonders at her revival. Papal sovereignty was restored
February 11th, 1929 with the signing of the Lateran
Treaty with Benito Mussolini. And yet the beast is. It has
ascended back out of extinction, or the bottomless pit, and proceeds
from there to its destruction.

The City of Seven
Mountains

The woman of Revelation 17 sits on seven mountains:

Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads
are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

Now, some Roman Catholic apologists will likely try to apply this
passage to the city of Jerusalem. However, this verse tells us that the
woman of Revelation 17, an apostate persecuting Christian
church, sits, or headquarters itself, in a city of seven
mountains. No such Christian church has its administrative
headquarters in Jerusalem, so it can be easily dismissed as a
possibility. It is also worth noting that Revelation was written by
John about 95 A.D., some 25 years after Jerusalem had been
besieged and completely destroyed by the Romans. This also removes it
from consideration in the prophecy, since the Jews did not return to
Jerusalem until the 20th century.
John the Revelator further amplifies and defines the harlot as
follows:

Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city,
which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

So we need to look for an apostate persecuting Christian church,
that attempts to rule over the kings of the earth from a great city,
known for having seven mountains. So let's consider the great Eternal
City of Rome, headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. Look in most
any encyclopedia and you will find that Rome is known as the city of
seven hills, or seven mountains. These seven mountains are the
Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Cælian (Coelian/Celio),
Aventine and Palatine, highlighted in yellow below.

"Ubi nunc est Roma, erat olim Septimontium,
nominatum ab tot montibus, quos postea urbs muris comprehendit."
"Where now is Rome, was once Septimontium, named by the so many
mountains, afterwards enclosed by the city walls."

Below is a an ancient Roman coin (a Sestertius) in the collection
of the British Museum, minted at Tarraco in 71 A.D. during the reign of
Vespasian (69-79 A.D.), declaring him to be the Pontifex Maximus (a
title assumed by the papacy), which depicts the city of Rome as both
the goddess Dea-Roma seated on 7 hills, and a she-wolf suckling Romulus
and Remus (just above the R in ROMA).

It is within
the city of Rome, called the city of seven hills, that the entire area
of Vatican State proper is now confined. By treaty with the
Italian Government certain other properties apart from the Vatican
State are considered as territorial parts of the state of Vatican City.
Since the founding of the Church there by St. Peter, the city of Rome
has been the center of Christendom. The city itself is the diocese of
the pope as bishop of Rome.

Source: The Catholic Encyclopedia, edited by Robert C.
Broderick, Imprimatur of the Most Reverend William E. Cousins,
Archbishop of Milwaukee, Nihil Obstat of the Reverend Richard J. Sklba,
published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, copyright 1976, entry on Rome,
pg. 529.

Catholic Attempts at Rebuttal

The Roman Catholic apologist will likely respond in a manner
similar to this, from Patrick Madrid:

Most people don't realize that Vatican City, built
squarely on Vatican
Hill, isn't one of the seven hills for which Rome is famous!
Unfortunately for the fevered anti-Catholic theories that Dave Hunt and
others traffic in, the Catholic Church's headquarters — Vatican City — sits on the other side of the Tiber
river, and not on any of the seven hills. The Tiber formed a natural
boundary for the city limits of ancient Rome. The seven hills were on
one side, snug inside the city walls. Vatican Hill sat across the
river, in sight of the old city, but not technically part of it — so close but yet so far.
Source: Pope Fiction, by Patrick Madrid, (Fiction
#7), ISBN 0-9642610-0-6, copyright 1999 Basilica Press, page 103.

It is extremely interesting, to say the least, to see a Roman
Catholic apologist, whose church is governed by the Bishop of Rome,
trying to extricate his church from that city. Rome, like many European
cities, has fortified city walls around its perimeter. The original
walls of the city of the Caesars, built between 272 and 279 by
Aurelian, did not include the area of the Vatican hill on the west bank
of the Tiber, so it is true, as Patrick Madrid says, that Vatican hill
was likely considered outside the city limits of the paganRome
of the Caesars. However, after the sacking of St. Peter's Basilica
and
Rome by the Muslim Saracens in 846, the city walls were enlarged as a
defensive measure by Pope Leo IV
between 848 and 852. He fortified Vatican hill against future
attacks by including it within the perimeter of the city walls, which
were extended eastward to Hadrian's tomb (Castel Sant'Angelo). To honor
Leo IV, the newly enclosed Vatican was called the
Leonine City. The remains of these defensive walls can still be seen
today around the Vatican. Most notable is a narrow passageway (Passetto)
from the Vatican palace to Castel Sant'Angelo that was added atop the
Leonine wall to give the Popes a secret
escape route, which is
occasionally opened to the public.

"Between 848 and 852 Leo IV surrounded the whole [Vatican]
settlement with a wall, which included it within the city boundaries.
Until the pontificate of Sixtus V [1585-1590] this section of Rome
remained a private papal possession and was entrusted to a special
administration. Sixtus, however, placed it under the jurisdiction of
the urban authorities as the fourteenth region."
Source: I. Introduction,
of the Catholic Encyclopedia online article on the Vatican

Under ecclesiastical papal Rome, the Vatican
has been considered within the walls and city limits of Rome
since the middle of the 9th century. So as can be seen, Patrick Madrid
in his book Pope Fiction is not telling the whole story to his
readers. He is leaving out pertinent facts, since the Vatican has been within
the city limits and walls of Rome for well over 1000 years.

Rev 17:9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom.
The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. ...
Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which
reigneth over the kings of the earth.

That the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church,
the Bishop of Rome, attempts to rule the world from Rome
(fulfilling the prophecy) is so obvious on the face of it that it
hardly seems to call for any documentation, but we will let a recent
pope be heard on this issue:

67. ... the hand of God, who guides the course
of history, has set down the Chair of His Vicar on earth, in this city
of Rome which, from being the capital of the wonderful Roman Empire,
was made by Him the capital of the whole world, because He made it the
seat of a sovereignty which, since it extends beyond the confines of
nations and states, embraces within itself all the peoples of the whole
world. The very origin and divine nature of this sovereignty demands,
the inviolable rights of conscience of millions of the faithful of the
whole world demand that this sacred sovereignty must not be, neither
must it ever appear to be, subject to any human authority or law
whatsoever, even though that law be one which proclaims certain
guaranties for the liberty of the Roman Pontiff.

Note the remarkable wording used by Pius XI. He
boldly claims sovereignty over all the people of the world from his
"seat" in the city of Rome! To use a well worn Catholic
phrase, "Roma Locuta
Est, Causa Finita Est" - Rome has spoken, the case is closed.
We will continue to develop the extensive evidence, however.

The Lateran Basilica: The
Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome

Rev 13:2 ... and the dragon (pagan Rome) gave him
(papal Rome) his power, and his seat (cathedra), and great authority.

A few minutes of researching in most any library will
reveal that the official "cathedra" or seat of authority for
the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, is not in St. Peter's Basilica,
but it is actually in the apse of St. John Lateran Cathedral,
which is a short distance to the southeast of the Coliseum and Roman
Forum, on the opposite side of Rome from the Vatican. Located
on the Coelian (Celio/Cælian) Hill, one of the seven hills of Rome (Rev
17:9), St. John Lateran dates back to Rome's emperor Constantine, who
donated the building to the Bishop of Rome in the 4th century. It is
the oldest church in Christendom and so lays claim to the title of the
"mother church of the world".

The Catholic Encyclopedia

CathedraThe chair-throne of a bishop is always located in the
sanctuary against the left wall on the gospel side in the cathedral
church of the diocese. Cathedra is the Greek word for a chair or
throne, from which is derived the word cathedral.

Lateran Church Officially, the Church of our Most Holy Savior,
called St. John Lateran, is the Cathedral of the bishop of Rome, the
pope. It is considered the mother church of the Christian world. The
basilica, part of a donation of the Laterani family, was presented to
the Church in 311. It is the oldest of the Christian basilicas and from
historic times was known as Constantine's basilica.

Source: The Catholic Encyclopedia, edited
by Robert C. Broderick, Imprimatur of the Most Reverend William E.
Cousins, Archbishop of Milwaukee, Nihil Obstat of the Reverend Richard
J. Sklba, published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, copyright 1976, pages
98, 340.

St. John Lateran Cathedral
Mother Church and Official Seat of the Bishop of Rome

Constantine must have given it [the Lateran] to the
Church in the time of Miltiades, not later than about 311, for we find
council against the Donatists meeting within its walls as early as 313.
From that time onwards it was always the centre of Christian life
within the city; the residence of the popes and the cathedral of Rome.
The latter distinction it still holds, though it has long lost the
former.

The current Bishop of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI, formally took
possession of St. John Lateran and enthroned himself on his cathedra of
power and authority for the first time on May 7th, 2005. His homily
discussed the significance of the event.
Since 1377, upon the return to Rome from Avignon, Church
administration has been located in the Vatican, rather than the
Lateran. However, as the cathedra (official seat) of the Bishop of
Rome, the Pope, the Lateran is today still considered to be
extraterritorially a part of the Vatican City-State, as is the basilica
Santa Maria Maggiore (St. Mary Major), which is located on Esquiline
Hill. This is the result of a treaty (Concordat) signed with the
Italian state in 1929 at the Lateran, which restored the diplomatic
status of the Vatican as an independent city-state, which had been lost
in 1860-1870 when Italy seized all papal territories. See Lateran
Treaty - Article 13.

Vatican State, City of The capital city of the Vatican State, which
includes the principle territory of the surrounding city of Rome, was
recognized as sovereign land of the Roman Catholic Church by the
Lateran Treaty. It includes the Vatican palace, its gardens, the
basilica and piazza of St. Peter's, and other official buildings on a
plot of land about one square mile with approximately 1000 residents,
all of whom are citizens. It is properly called the papal state and is
governed by the Pope as the sovereign ruler with executive, legislative
and judicial powers exercised through commissions or delegated groups.
There are other properties fixed by the treaty not adjoining Vatican
State yet under its sovereign dominion. These are the basilicas and
buildings of
St. John Lateran [Coelian hill],
St. Mary Major [Esquiline hill],
St. Paul-outside-the-Walls [~2 km South of Rome], and the
Holy Apostles [Quirinal hill], and the churches of
Saint Andrea-della-Valle [NE of Campo De' Fiore] and
San Carlo-ai-Catinari [SE of Campo De' Fiore] with their adjoining
buildings, the palace of
San Callisto [Palazzo
S. Callisto,Trastevere] and the papal summer residence,
Castel Gandolfo [Alban Hills, ~20 km SE of Rome].
Source: The Catholic Encyclopedia, edited by Robert C.
Broderick, Imprimatur of the Most Reverend William E. Cousins,
Archbishop of Milwaukee, Nihil Obstat of the Reverend Richard J. Sklba,
published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, copyright 1976, page 598.

Also seized in 1870 by Italy but not returned by the Lateran
treaty, was the grand
Quirinal papal palace built on Quirinal hill (the highest of the 7
hills of Rome) beginning in 1574. It was the official residence for
some 30 Popes until its seizure by Italy, when the Palazzo del Quirinale became the
official residence of the kings of Italy, and since 1947 the residence
of the presidents of Italy.

Note what a Catholic "expert" at EWTN has said on this subject, to
refute Protestant claims that the Catholic Church is described in the
book of Revelation:

Copyright 1999 by EWTN

... "The seven heads represent seven hills on which the woman
sits." First of all, no Pope has ever lived or had his "seat" (cathedra
or cathedral) on any of the seven hills of Rome. These hills are small
hillocks (Capitoline, Palatine, Esquiline, Aventine and three lesser
"bumps" in central Rome) where the religion and government of pagan
Rome was situated. The Catholic Church's headquarters at the Lateran
(the cathedral) and at the Vatican (where the Pope lives) does not
coincide with them." ...

Mr. Donovan needs to investigate one of those lesser bumps (the
Cælian), and St. John Lateran Cathedral a bit more closely. I dare say
that most any encyclopedia's articles and maps on Rome and the Lateran
will reveal the error of his statement. With that kind of "expert"
answer on a prominent Catholic web site, it is no wonder that most
Catholics don't know the truth on this subject. But the truth is
available even on EWTN's own site:

CHURCHES OF ROME:
CHRISTIANITY'S FIRST CATHEDRAL
June Hager

Christendom's earliest basilica and home of the Popes for
a thousand years St. John Lateran on the Caelian Hill.
St. John Lateran is Christendom's earliest basilica. Ordered
by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, it became the
Popes' own cathedral and official residence for the first millennium of
Christian history. ...
... Henceforth, the Lateran palace, known as the
Patriarchate, was the Pope's official residence until the fifteenth
century. ...
Source: February 1996
issueofInside
the Vatican.

See this current map of
Rome online. On this map the name of mount Celio appears to the
left of the Lateran, below the Coliseum.

Now back to Patrick Madrid's book Pope Fiction, which
makes this attempt at rebuttal on this point:

Some desperate to salvage this argument, claim that
because the cathedral church and official seat of the bishop of Rome is
St. John Lateran (which does fall within the bounds of Old Rome), the
Catholic Church still fits the bill as being based in Rome.
You've got to give these folks an "A" for effort. Even
though this variation on the theme fails, too, the people who promote
it are nothing if not tenacious. The problem with this argument is that
a cathedral is a church building, not a city. You can't mix and
match biblical symbols to make them fit your own particular
interpretive system; that does violence to the text. And, of course,
even this last claim still fails to account for the leap from a city to
a religion (which the identification of Catholicism with the
Whore of Babylon must make, for it to work).

I am not desperate, and don't feel the need to try
and salvage anything. I am quite confident and willing let the reader
judge the weight of the facts presented in this article, and who gets
the "A", and who fails completely in their arguments which are composed
of half truths and misinformation.

As mentioned above, St. John Lateran, the cathedra
(seat of authority) of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope, has been formally
recognized by the 1929 treaty with Italy to be extra territorially a
part of the Vatican City-State. Consequently, the Pope officially
reigns from St. John Lateran, which is on one of the famous seven hills
of Rome, the Cælian, and it is also a part of the Vatican City-State.

From a City to a Religion

Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest
the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often
would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth
her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Can a city represent a religion? How difficult is it
to see that the city of Jerusalem did not literally kill the
prophets of God? As the city of old Jerusalem was used to symbolize
Judaism, the New Jerusalem is used symbolically to represent the
faithful saints of God:

Rev 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new
Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband.

In opposition to the New Jerusalem, the eternal city
of the saints, scripture describes a great city of seven hills, Rome.
Rome is also symbolically called Babylon in prophecy, representing
apostate religion:

Roman Catholics Admit
Babylon Is A New Testament Symbol For Rome

1 Pet 5:13 The church that is at Babylon, elected together with
you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

Babylon in the above verse is widely recognized as a code word
meaning Rome, not Babylon, since there is no evidence that Peter ever
ministered in Babylon. Roman Catholics have even acknowledged this
association:

"Babylon," from which Peter addresses his first Epistle, is
understood by learned annotators, Protestant and Catholic, to refer to
Rome - the word Babylon being symbolic of the corruption then
prevailing in the city of the Caesars.

But the Bible does. While there were
many things that happened connected with Jesus and the Apostles that
are not written in the Bible (see Jn 21:25), Peter's presence in Rome
is confirmed by it. In his first epistle Peter closes by saying "She
who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings; so does
my son Mark" (5:13). "She who is chosen" refers to the Church in Rome.
"Babylon is a Christian code word for Rome and the Roman Empire.
Examine Revelation 17:5 where the author uses Babylon — mother of harlots and the earth's
abomination, drunk on the blood of Christian martyrs — in this sense. At the time Peter was
writing, Babylon was no longer a great city but a deserted relic of mud
huts.

But Boettner is wrong when he claims "there is no
allusion to Rome in either of [Peter's] epistles". There is, in the
greeting at the end of the first epistle. "The church here in Babylon,
united with you by God's election, sends you her greeting, and so does
my son, Mark." (1 Peter 5:13). Babylon is a code word for Rome. It is
used that way six times in the last book of the Bible ... Eusebius
Pamphilius, writing about 303, noted that "it is said that Peter's
first epistle, in which he makes mention of Mark, was composed at Rome
itself; and he himself indicates this, referring to the city
figuratively as Babylon." [Historia
ecclesiastica 2, 15, 4.]

Source:
Catholicism and Fundamentalism, by Karl Keating, copyright 1988,
published by Ignatius Press, San Francisco, ISBN 0-89870-195-3, library
of Congress number 87-82939, page 200.
So anxious are the Catholics to place Peter in Rome, that they are
willing to permanently brand Rome with the symbolic title of Babylon in
the New Testament. Indeed, I would venture to say that every
Roman Catholic Bible published has a footnote identifying Babylon in 1
Peter 5:13 as actually meaning Rome. Regarding references to Babylon in
Revelation 14:8, 16:19, 17:5, 18:2, 10, and 21; note the following:

"These references cannot be to the onetime capital of the
Babylonian Empire. That Babylon had been reduced to an inconsequential
status by the march of years, military defeat, and political
subjugation; it was no longer a 'great city'. It played no important
part in the recent history of the ancient world. The only truly 'great
city' in New Testament times was Rome."

The city of seven hills, Rome, symbolically called
Babylon in the New Testament, is where a harlot woman (apostate
Christian church) rules (sits) over many people.

The Universal Church.

The woman of Revelation 17 sits on many waters, representing
authority over many people:

Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest,
where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and
tongues.

The word Catholic means Universal. So the Roman Catholic
Church is claiming to be the Universal or Worldwide Christian Church, a
claim of authority over all the Christians of the world.

The significance of Rome lies primarily in the fact
that it is the city of the pope. The Bishop of Rome, as the successor
of St. Peter, is the Vicar of Christ on earth and the visible head of
the Catholic Church. Rome is consequently the centre of unity in
belief, the source of ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the seat of the
supreme authority which can bind by its enactments the faithful
throughout the world.

The above papal medal of Pius XII, minted in the 11th
year of his reign, symbolizes the Catholic church as a queen, pompously
seated on her throne, from which she claims to uphold truth and
justice. This depiction bears a remarkable resemblance to the following
verse describing Mystery Babylon:

Rev 18:7 How much she hath glorified herself, and
lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith
in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

Reigning Over the Kings
of the Earth.

The woman of Revelation 17 claims authority over all the
kings of the earth:

Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

The Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church historically claims
authority over all secular rulers, and has exercised that assumed
authority by deposing kings or queens who did not acknowledge the
Pope's superior secular and ecclesiastical authority.
Here are just a few examples of this claimed authority over
Kings:

There are two powers, august Emperor, by which this world is
chiefly ruled, namely, the sacred authority of the priests and the
royal power. Of these that of the priests is the more weighty, since
they have to render an account for even the kings of men in the divine
judgment. You are also aware, dear son, that while you are permitted
honorably to rule over human kind, yet in things divine you bow your
head humbly before the leaders of the clergy and await from their hands
the means of your salvation. In the reception and proper disposition of
the heavenly mysteries you recognize that you should be subordinate
rather than superior to the religious order, and that in these matters
you depend on their judgment rather than wish to force them to follow
your will.

9. That of the pope alone all princes shall kiss the feet.
12. That it may be permitted to him to depose emperors.

1. ... the Roman Pontiff, who rules the offices of God and our
Lord Jesus Christ on earth and who holds the fullness of power over
kingdoms and kings, and who judges all, and by no one at this time is
judged, ...

The creator of the universe set up two great luminaries in the
firmament of heaven; the greater light to rule the day, the lesser
light to rule the night. In the same way for the firmament of the
universal Church, which is spoken of as heaven, he appointed two great
dignities; the greater to bear rule over souls (these being, as it
were, days), the lesser to bear rule over bodies (those being, as it
were, nights). These dignities are the pontifical authority and the
royal power. Furthermore, the moon derives her light from the sun, and
is in truth inferior to the sun in both size and quality, in position
as well as effect. In the same way the royal power derives its dignity
from the pontifical authority: and the more closely it cleaves to the
sphere of that authority the less is the light with which it is
adorned; the further it is removed, the more it increases in splendor.

THE POPE AND IMPERIAL ELECTIONSThe Statement of the Papal Claim by Innocent III

Decretal Venerabilem, March 1202, Corpus Iuris Canonici,
(Friedberg) II. 80. Mirbt, 323
[A letter from Innocent to the Duke of Zähringen
justifying his intervention in a disputed election of the kingship of
the Romans.]
... We acknowledge, as we are bound, that the right and
authority to elect a king (later to be elevated to the Imperial throne)
belongs to those princes to whom it is known to belong by right and
ancient custom; especially at this right and authority came to them
from the Apostolic See, which transferred the Empire from the Greeks to
the Germans in the person of Charles the Great. But the princes should
recognize, and assuredly do recognize, that the right and authority to
examine the person so elected king (to be elevated to the Empire)
belongs to us who anoint, consecrate and crown him. For it is a
generally observed rule that the examination of a person belongs to him
who has the duty of the laying-on of hands. For suppose that the
princes elected a sacrilegious man or an excommunicate, a tyrant or an
imbecile, a heretic or a pagan; and that not just by a majority, but
unanimously, are we bound to anoint, consecrate and crown such a
person? Of course not....
And it is evident from law and custom that when in
an election the votes of the princes are divided we may, after due
warning and a fitting interval, favour one of the parties.... For if
after such due notice the princes cannot or will not agree, will not
the Apostolic See be without an advocate and defender, and thus be
punished for their fault?

... who can doubt but that the priests of Christ are to be
considered the fathers and masters of kings and princes and of all the
faithful? ...
... For, indeed, one can see how the necks of kings and
princes are bowed before the knees of priests; and how, having kissed
their right hands, they believe themselves strengthened by their
prayers. ...
Furthermore every Christian King, when
he comes to die, seeks as a pitiful supplicant the aid of a priest,
that he may escape hell's prison, may pass from the darkness into the
light, and at the judgment of God may appear absolved from the bondage
of his sins. Who, in his last hour (what layman, not to speak of
priests), has ever implored the aid of an earthly king for the
salvation of his soul? And what king or emperor is able, by reason of
the office he holds, to rescue a Christian from the power of the devil
through holy baptism, to number him among the sons of God, and to
fortify him with the divine unction? Who of them can by his own words
make the body and blood of our Lord, - the greatest act in the
Christian religion? Or who of them possesses the power of binding and
loosing in heaven and on earth? From all of these considerations it is
clear how greatly the priestly office excels in power.
Who of them can ordain a single clerk in the holy
Church, much less depose him for any fault? For in the orders of the
Church a greater power is needed to depose than to ordain. Bishops may
ordain other bishops, but can by no means depose them without the
authority of the apostolic see. Who, therefore, or even moderate
understanding, can hesitate to give priests the precedence over kings?
Then, if kings are to be judged by priests for their sins, by whom can
they be judged with better right than by the Roman Pontiff?

The source for the above examples of papal claims of authority
over kings is from Documents of the Christian Church, Second
Edition, selected and Edited by Henry Bettenson, Copyright by Oxford
University Press 1963, ISBN 0-19-501293-3, pages 106-108, 112-113.

On the above papal medal (Mazio 13, Spink 342) issued
by Pope Callistus III (1455-58), the reverse side reads OMNES REGES
SERVIENT EI, a quote of Daniel 7:27 from the Latin Vulgate, which when
translated in the Catholic Douay Rheims reads "ALL KINGS SHALL SERVE
HIM". The scripture refers to God, but the papal triple-tiered tiara
portrayed above the cross clearly symbolizes papal authority, that the
papacy is God's designated representative, having authority even over
the kings of the earth, just as the above excerpts show.

Jezebel

Jezebel was the
daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians (1 Ki 16:31). The name
Ethbaal means man of Baal (H854 + H1168), and Jezebel means woman
of Baal (H802 + H1168).

1 Ki 16:30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the
sight of the LORD above all that were before him.
1 Ki 16:31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him
to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife
Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and
served Baal, and worshipped him.
1 Ki 16:32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal,
which he had built in Samaria.
1 Ki 16:33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD
God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before
him.

Now note this passage in Revelation 2:

Rev 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee,
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a
prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication,
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Rev 2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she
repented not.
Rev 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit
adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their
deeds.
Rev 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches
shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I
will give unto every one of you according to your works.

In prophecy a woman represents a church, and Jezebel here
represents the apostate church, who has taught corrupted doctrine,
which is described as fornication, just as in Revelation 17:

Rev 17:1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the
seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will
show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many
waters:
Rev 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,
and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of
her fornication.

Now, pay close attention to this ...
The apostate church in Revelation 2:20 (Jezebel, the woman of Baal)
calls herself a prophetess ... so by her own admission she
is linked with prophecy!

Now a system like this [Roman Catholicism] is so unlike
anything human, it has upon it notes, tokens, marks so altogether
supernatural, that men now acknowledge it to be either Christ or
Antichrist. There is nothing [pg. 172] between these extremes. Most
true is this alternative. The Catholic Church is either the masterpiece
of Satan or the kingdom of the Son of God.

And another serious question is this, whether we ought not to
be very sure before we assert that a branch of Christ's Church, not
merely has evil extensively prevailing within it, but is actually the
kingdom of evil, the kingdom of God's enemy; considering that, if it be
not the [pg. 116] kingdom of darkness, it is the Church, the
dwelling-place of the Most High. The question really lies, be it
observed, between those two alternatives, either the Church of
Rome is the house of God or the house of Satan; there is no
middle ground between them.